This section tries to delve into the intellectual foundations of gastromythology, through a series of articles connecting the concept with the works of influential seers and theorists across disciplines and cultures, from semiotics and philosophy to performance studies to cultural sociology.
Alain de Botton and the Industrialization of Food
The modern food industry, from mass-produced biscuits to global seafood supply chains, embodies the paradox of industrial efficiency and cultural alienation. While food was once deeply tied to local traditions and personal labor, industrialization has rendered it a commodity, detached from its origins. Alain de Botton (2009), in The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work, explores…
Žižek, Gastromythology, and Surplus Enjoyment: The Excess of Taste
Gastromythology examines the intersection of food, mythology, and culture, revealing how culinary traditions carry narratives of power, identity, and desire. Slavoj Žižek’s concept of surplus enjoyment, which highlights the paradox of pleasure in excess, offers a compelling framework to understand the ideological functions of food in society. The act of eating, far from being a…
Priscilla Parkhurst Ferguson’s “Accounting for Taste” and Intersections with Gastromythology
American sociologist, Priscilla Parkhurst Ferguson’s Accounting for Taste (2004) offers a theoretical framework that aligns closely with Arup K. Chatterjee’s concept of gastromythology, particularly in its exploration of how culinary discourse transforms food into an ideological and cultural construct. Ferguson argues that cuisine is not merely about food preparation but about the socially prized pursuit…
Arjun Appadurai, Gastromythology, and the Construction of National Cuisine
Indo-American anthropologist, Arjun Appadurai’s seminal essay, “How to Make a National Cuisine: Cookbooks in Contemporary India,” provides a crucial theoretical framework for understanding how culinary narratives shape national identity. His insights on the textualization of cuisine, the role of cookbooks in cultural standardization, and the symbolic dimensions of food intersect with Arup K. Chatterjee’s notion…
Abhinavagupta and the Mythopoetics of Culinary Experience
Abhinavagupta, the preeminent philosopher-aesthetician of Kashmir Shaivism, offers a compelling framework for understanding the intersection of food, mythology, and culture—what Arup K. Chatterjee terms gastromythology. At its core, gastromythology explores how culinary practices encode mythic structures, historical memory, and aesthetic experience. Abhinavagupta’s theories of rasa (aesthetic essence), dhvani (suggestion), and pratyabhijna (recognition) provide rich philosophical…
Margaret Visser’s Deconstruction of Table Manners, Etiquette, and Gastronomic Symbolism
Margaret Visser is a cultural historian whose work on the rituals, symbolism, and everyday practices surrounding food provides a rich foundation for the concept of gastromythology. Visser’s books, such as Much Depends on Dinner (1986) and The Rituals of Dinner (1991), dissect the hidden meanings and historical narratives behind the foods we eat, showing how…
Pierre Bourdieu and the Pursuit of ‘Distinction’ in Gastronomy
Pierre Bourdieu, one of the most influential sociologists of the 20th century, developed theories on social structures, taste, and cultural capital that have profound implications for gastromythology, as coined and explained by Arup K. Chatterjee. Bourdieu’s work helps us understand how food myths are not just about culinary traditions but are deeply embedded in systems…
Mary Douglas and the Mythical Codes of Food
Mary Douglas, a pioneering British anthropologist, provided a powerful framework that can be put to use for understanding Arup K Chatterjee’s coinage of gastromythology. Through her studies of purity, taboo, and social structures, Douglas revealed that food is not merely a biological necessity but a mythical code that organizes society. Her work aligns closely with…
Bharata’s Natyashastra and the Performance of Food in Cultural Myth-Making
The Indian philosopher, Bharata’s Natyashastra, the ancient Indian treatise on performing arts, offers a profound lens through which to understand Arup K. Chatterjee’s concept of gastromythology—the study of how myths shape food cultures and consumption patterns. While Natyashastra primarily concerns drama, music, and performance, its foundational theory of rasa (aesthetic experience) can be extended to…
Roland Barthes and the Psychosociology of Gastronomic Experience
Roland Barthes, a seminal figure in semiotics and cultural criticism, extensively analyzed how everyday objects and practices are laden with ideological meanings. In his collection Mythologies (1957), Barthes deconstructs various cultural phenomena to reveal the underlying myths that shape societal perceptions. Among these essays, his exploration of food stands out as particularly relevant to Arup…
Claude Lévi-Strauss and Structures of Culinary Mythologies
Claude Lévi-Strauss, the French anthropologist and ethnologist, is one of the most significant theorists in structuralism. His work in mythology and food systems aligns with gastromythology, particularly in understanding how culinary practices embody deep-seated cultural codes, oppositions, and transformations. In The Raw and the Cooked (1964), Lévi-Strauss examines how food preparation mirrors binary oppositions (such…
GASTROMYTHOLOGY 